Pink grapefruit specialty enriched on gravel soil

(Baonghean) -On the hillsides and sloping land of Quang Tien ward (Thai Hoa town) there is a variety of grapefruit with smooth pink segments, sweet and cool to eat. That is the Quang Tien pink grapefruit variety. For a long time, this fruit has become a familiar hometown gift for Thai Hoa people.

Native plants into commodities

Leading us to her garden, where 350 pink grapefruit trees are laden with fruit, Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan (Trung Nghia block) shared: The land here is mostly sloping, with lots of rocks and gravel, so no tree can withstand it. Before the pink grapefruit trees took root here, people could only grow cassava and jackfruit. The yield was not much and the price was low, so life was extremely difficult.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, Trung Nghia block, Quang Tien ward (Thai Hoa town) introduces her family's pink grapefruit garden.

"My family saw that Uncle Quang's family in Doc Cao block had a type of grapefruit with pink segments and thin flesh that bore a lot of fruit, so the family decided to buy a large tree to try planting. Then, they grafted many young trees to multiply. In the first 2 years, the tree grew healthily, and at the end of the 3rd year, the tree started to bear fruit. Everyone in the family picked and ate the sweet fruit, so they were very happy. By the 4th year, it started to bear fruit, although it was not yet fruitful, each tree bore nearly 500 fruits. In 2005, the family started grafting branches, multiplying the number to 350 trees, planting nearly 1 hectare. Currently, on average, each year we harvest nearly 5 tons of grapefruit, earning over 200 million VND in profit," Ms. Loan added.

Currently, in Trung Nghia block, there are nearly 20 households growing this grapefruit variety as a commodity, households growing a lot have 300 to 400 trees, households growing a little have over a dozen trees. And to increase income for the first 3 years, when the grapefruit has not yet produced fruit, people here have intercropped to get short-term benefits for the long-term. The main crop grown is pressed sugarcane. On average, each hectare of grapefruit will be intercropped with about 60 rows of sugarcane, each row will produce about 200 kg of standing sugarcane. With the selling price ranging from 170,000 to 200,000 VND per kilo of sugarcane, at the end of the season, people can earn tens of millions of VND. In recent years, people have also intercropped pineapple, the income is not less than sugarcane and it is easy to consume.

According to many locals, because this is a native variety, pink grapefruit is less susceptible to pests and diseases and adapts well to local climate conditions. The grapefruit is quite large, with an average weight of 1 kg to 1.5 kg/fruit, with some weighing up to 2.5 kg. Previously, the price of grapefruit was only 15 to 20 thousand VND/kg, but now it has increased to 25 to 30 thousand VND/kg.

There are households that sell 200 to 300 kg of fruit each day during the harvest season. Currently, the area of ​​pink grapefruit grown by Quang Tien in the Trung Nghia and Doc Cao blocks is 20 hectares, of which 10 hectares are for harvest. By creating new varieties on site, Quang Tien plants 3-4 hectares of this grapefruit variety each year. Both blocks have over 300 households, and each garden has at least 2 grapefruit trees. In addition to selling fruit, people also accept grafting to produce seedlings to sell to neighboring areas such as Tan Ky and Yen Thanh for 50,000 VND/tree. Each year, the whole block sells about 4,000 trees. Thanks to the income from grapefruit trees, the lives of people here have gradually stabilized over the years, becoming quite rich households.

Go to the province

In October 2004, the Phu Quy Center for Fruit and Industrial Tree Research conducted a trial planting of Quang Tien pink grapefruit. The results showed that Quang Tien pink grapefruit has outstanding advantages: high yield, less susceptible to pests and diseases. On July 12, 2012, the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) issued a decision to recognize this as an agricultural crop variety for continued investment and the locality also focused on development.

Pink grapefruit is helping many households in Quang Tien ward escape poverty and become rich (Illustration photo)

Mr. Phan Thanh Hai, Head of the Economic Department of Thai Hoa Town, said: Realizing the economic value of the pink grapefruit variety, in recent years the Town has made certain investments to develop according to a reasonable plan. Currently, the whole Town has nearly 80 hectares of pink grapefruit varieties, of which nearly 70% of the area is being harvested. The product has been consumed a lot in the province, especially there have been orders for consumption in Hanoi, Hai Duong, Thanh Hoa.

Besides Quang Tien ward, Nghia Thuan, Nghia My, Nghia Tien areas have also started to grow this type of tree in the last 3 to 4 years. Initial results show that the tree is growing quite well and giving high yield. It promises that there will be many positive signs in the near future.

Thanh Quynh